September 16, 2017

Reviewing the Streak

The Indians winning streak ended Friday night as the Royals took the game 4-3. Here’s a quick review of the greatness of the 22 games.

Offense

Between Aug. 24, 2017 and Sept. 14, 2017 (inclusive) the Indians hit .306/.385/.552 as a team. With the team recording 886 PA, the group posted numbers that would win an individual player an MVP in many years*.

*For his career, Albert Pujols owns a .306/.387/.563 slash line.

Their timing was mostly good, with a .380 OBP with the bases empty and a .512 slugging percentage with men on base. They were great close and late, .317/.388/.700. Ten of their 41 home runs came in that situation. Number nine hitters went .305/.348/.622 with 13 of their 25 hits going for extra bases. They never batted trailing by more than one run.

Opponents Offense

The Indians pitchers limited their opponents to a .208/.252/.289 slash line. They basically reduced a large group of major league hitters to the offensive level of defensive backup catchers. That line dropped to .162/.184/.270 with men in scoring position. The bullpen was amazing, with opponents posting a .193/.231/.225 slash line.

Starting Pitching

The starters posted a 1.77 ERA during the streak, and that includes a 2/3 of an inning start by Danny Salazar in which he allowed four runs. All of their three-true outcomes were great. They didn’t, as a rule, go that deep in games, they went deep enough to win 19 of the 22 starts. They did collect two complete games, which is pretty good for that number of starts.

The takeaway is the Indians played like they had a lineup of Albert Pujol versus a lineup of Bob Uecker. It was not contest.

1 thought on “Reviewing the Streak

  1. Devon

    Lineups of Pujols vs Uecker really slams that difference into my head. WOW!

    Question – was the worst batting line coming out of the 9th spot in the lineup? I’m guessing so, but I can imagine that maybe another slot might’ve been weaker.

    ReplyReply

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